A Perfect Match?
by Marcus S. Lazarus
Summary: A month after Misty decided to stay with Rudy on Trovita, a phone call asking for help forces her to face some harsh truths about her real feelings for Ash ('reuploaded' for PokeShipping Week Day 3)
1. Reasons to Stay

Disclaimer: I own nothing; you know the drill

Feedback: Always welcome

AN: Re-reading a few old favourites suddenly got me thinking; I found a few short AU fics based around the idea of Ash losing the final match against Rudy and/or Misty taking more time to make her decision in 'Misty Meets Her Match', but I never found anything that thought about what would have happened if she actually _did_ stay behind, so I came up with this storyline. It won't be very long, but considering the likely timeline of events- assuming that 'The Power of One' took place around the same time in the series as it aired in reality, which would set it just after 'Charizard Chills', and thus only a couple of weeks after Trovita at most- I was suddenly intrigued at the thought of how Ash would cope with those events without Misty present, and that just spiralled into this

AN 2: This will probably only be a few chapters long, but I hope everyone enjoys the result anyway.

A Perfect Match?

She'd been in Trovita for a month before Misty began to seriously consider that she'd made a mistake accepting his offer.

At first, she'd put her initial uncertainty down to the simple fact that she and Rudy were each trying to find their way with the new arrangement, her staying in one place and him adapting to another female presence in his life, but the more time she spent there, the more she realised that this wasn't the life she wanted for herself.

On some level, she found herself missing the freedom of travelling and exploring that she'd enjoyed ever since she left Cerulean to make her own way. Even if… someone else… had always had final say in choosing their primary destination, she'd always had some input in how they got there, able to suggest detours or ask to stay somewhere for longer, but Trovita just wasn't big enough to engage her interests in the same way as constant travel.

She appreciated having her own room after so many months of camping out, and she wasn't complaining about having an actual bed to sleep in, but every day she got to know Rudy, the more she realised that she didn't have enough in common with him to make a relationship work.

Rudy was content with what he had and where he was, and while Misty appreciated that he knew his place, she didn't want to feel 'obligated' to stay put after she'd left Cerulean City to avoid that kind of forced responsibility. She'd still managed to explore the surrounding area since arriving at Trovita, and she'd even managed to capture a Poliwag during a visit to a neighbouring island, but every time she'd left, Rudy's words made it sound more like he _expected_ her to come back, rather than just looking forward to it.

As well as his unvoiced 'expectations' for their relationship, there was also Misty's private concerns about his training methods now that she'd seen them long-term. It wasn't that Rudy didn't care about his Pokemon, but she never got the impression that he really cared about them as _individual_ Pokemon. While he spent time training them in dance techniques to improve his own fighting style, she'd never seen him send out a Pokemon just to talk with it, or leave them out once he'd completed the night's training.

She appreciated that every trainer had their styles, but she'd really come to appreciate the merits of having a fixed team that you could spend time with for reasons beyond just winning the next battle…

On a personal level, she was also growing concerned about the friendship she'd formed with Mahri. While Rudy's little sister was a nice enough girl, everything for her seemed to revolve around her brother and how 'cool' he was; even when she was spending time with Misty, Mahri was still talking about her brother. Misty knew that her strained relationship with her sisters wasn't normal for siblings, and she wasn't going to object to Rudy being a good brother, but she just wished that Mahri would show more interest in things that were just about Mahri herself, rather than every conversation she tried to have with the girl relating back to Rudy.

The thing that kept her at Trovita, however, was always the same; Ash had made his feelings clear in their last conversation.

OK, she acknowledged that she might have crossed a line in that last argument after Squirtle lost to Starmie when she said that getting Togepi and meeting Rudy were the only two good things that had ever come of their travels together, but he understood that she hadn't meant that _seriously_ ; they always exaggerated in their arguments. They'd always argued when they were travelling… and she knew she'd made more than a few disparaging comments about his abilities as a trainer when she was frustrated… but she'd always had faith in him in the end, and he had to know that.

But even after all that they'd been through, once he'd heard that she was staying with Rudy, he'd gone and left the island without even saying goodbye. Her last words had been an attempt to apologise by saying she'd be there to see his rematch with Rudy, but he hadn't even followed that up; he'd just left that night without another word, and she hadn't even seen Tracey before learning that they'd both gone.

Whatever Rudy's problems, at least he made it clear that he cared about her; Ash had just stormed off in a huff without even saying goodbye because he was in a bad mood.

 _If he could leave that easily, he wasn't worth it_ , Misty told herself each night.

Maybe she'd eventually believe it…

Besides, if she didn't completely approve of the way Rudy treated his Pokemon, she could help him realise that there was a better way, right? Part of any good relationship was helping the other person grow, and Rudy wasn't treating his Pokemon _badly_ ; he just needed to interact with them more.

Misty forced down the traitorous part of her mind that reminded her that Pokemon interaction was one thing _Ash_ had never had any trouble with; he might have been good at being friends with his Pokemon, but he'd been so _immature_ when it came to people…

It would be easier to get over him if Togepi didn't keep asking 'Toge Togeprii?' every few hours. It might sound the same as everything else her little egg said, but just like with her other Pokemon, Misty had picked up enough of Togepi's language to understand what it was saying, even if she'd never told anyone this bit.

 _Where's Daddy_?

Misty had always had some ideas about how the egg Pokemon saw Ash, but she'd always tried to convince herself that it was just because it saw Pikachu as a brother rather than a specific attachment to _Ash_ himself, even if that was apparently not the case now that it was asking for 'Daddy' rather than 'Brother Pikachu'. She'd pushed the questions aside by saying that Ash had just gone off to do something, but she wasn't sure how long that would last; Togepi might be a baby Pokemon, but it wasn't stupid.

Sighing in frustration, Misty sat up from her bed and stared out of the window, Togepi still resting silently beside her pillow.

Why was it so hard to get over missing Ash? Rudy might not be perfect, but Ash was an immature kid who made impulsive decisions and relied on luck more than training, and that was before she started thinking about all those times he got mad at her for stupid little things; she was better off with someone who actually knew what a girl wanted.

Who cared if her old travelling companion was also the most compassionate boy she'd ever encountered, willing to put himself at risk for people and Pokemon he'd never met against impossible odds, who treated his team as friends rather than tools, who wouldn't even give up on the Charizard that cost him the biggest match of his life at that point…

Her train of thought was interrupted when she heard her room's videophone ringing; while Rudy might have certain expectations of their relationship, he had still respected her request for privacy, which included her own number. Getting up from her bed, she walked over to the phone and pressed the 'Accept Call' option, surprised at the sight of the person on the other end of the line.

"Tracey?" she said, looking at her old friend in surprise.

" _Misty_ …" Tracey began, looking awkwardly at the Water Pokemon trainer. " _Ash is in hospital_."


	2. A Friend in Need?

Disclaimer: I own nothing; you know the drill

Feedback: Always welcome

AN: This chapter's mostly going to look at Ash's own actions since he left Trovita, but after last chapter was all about Misty, I felt a balanced view was appropriate before we get them back on the same island

AN 2: For a future vote, based on what we saw of Rudy's line-up in the show, what Pokemon do you think he'd use in a Normal-Type battle? I'm current alternating between Lickitung and Raticate, as Kangkashan and Snorlax are too bulky to dance well, Porygon seems a bit too rare, Chansey isn't exactly a fighter, and Persian and Tauros just don't feel right, but I'm open to other suggestions (Keeping in mind that we'd be focusing on Generation 1 Pokemon here, based on the rest of Rudy's line-up)

A Perfect Match?

Ash was in hospital.

The moment she heard that news, Misty felt like her blood had frozen.

It wasn't that Ash had never been in danger, but he'd always come through it safely enough; even when Charizard was being disobedient, he'd never done anything more serious than char Ash's clothing even if the flames were hot, and Ash had always been careful about not getting close enough to wild Pokemon to give them a chance to hurt him before he'd determined if they were safe…

"Hospital?" she repeated, hoping that she didn't sound as anxious as she felt; even if Ash had hurt her when he left, she didn't want him hurt like _that_.

"He's not actually ill- he suffered a close call with frostbite, but Charizard was able to keep him warm long enough to get him to a hospital-"

"Hold on a minute; Ash almost got _frostbite_ and _Charizard_ saved him?" Misty interjected, looking at the screen in shock, fear for Ash temporarily overridden by confusion. "What happened?"

" _That's… a bit of a long story_ ," Tracey said awkwardly. " _You heard about all that weird weather out at Shamouti Island a couple of weeks ago, right_?"

"Yeah…" Misty nodded uncertainly, remembering all the chaotic storms a fortnight ago; she hadn't heard much of the details as she'd been on another island in search of new Pokemon, and by the time she'd returned with Poliwag, everything had calmed down and nobody seemed to know what had happened. "Did Ash get caught in the storm?"

" _Actually, he stopped it_."

"He stopped a storm?" Misty repeated in confusion. "How could he do that?"

" _Well… it's a bit confusing, but it started when we landed on Shamouti at the same time as they were starting this annual festival_ ," Tracey explained. " _Part of the Festival called for a Pokemon trainer to collect the three treasures of Fire, Lightning and Ice Island around Shamouti, as part of some old legend, but when Ash went to collect them, he ended up getting caught up in the plans of this Pokemon Collector who was trying to acquire three legendary Pokemon from each island_."

"Legendary Pokemon?" Misty repeated curiously. "Who are we talking about here?"

" _Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres_."

"The Legendary Birds?" Misty yelled in shock. "Someone just wanted to… to _collect_ them?"

" _And that's not even the worst bit_ ," Tracey continued grimly. " _Apparently, he was after them because of a prophecy that stated that, if someone disrupted the harmony of the three Birds by trying to capture any of them, it would wake up the 'beast of the sea' in the form of the fourth Bird, Lugia, because he wanted to capture Lugia as well_."

"That's… bad… but what does that have to do with the weather?"

" _I'm not clear on how, but capturing the birds provoked some kind of territorial instinct that prompted them to try and take each other's territories, which also disrupted their own influence over the weather patterns_ ," Tracey explained. " _The only thing that could calm them were the three treasures Ash had been collecting for the ceremony and Lugia's song… and Ash was apparently the literal 'Chosen One' of the prophecy_."

"Really?" Misty said, allowing herself a slight smile at the thought; even if Ash wasn't in great shape now, he'd at least had some interesting news beforehand. "He must have enjoyed that-"

" _He didn't_."

"Excuse me?" Misty said, not sure she'd heard Tracey correctly. "We're talking about _Ash_ here; he got ridiculously excited when he won his first battle in the Indigo League, and you're telling me he _didn't_ like learning that he's some 'Chosen One'?"

" _When we first heard the full prophecy, he kept protesting that saving the world was too much for him even after he'd already recovered two of the orbs; even when I tried to assure him that I had faith in him, he didn't seem to_ want _to accept it_ ," Tracey explained. " _Pikachu gave him a shock to get him moving, and some of his other Pokemon came out to express their own faith, he still seemed like he was just doing it because we wouldn't let him run away from it rather than because he felt he could actually pull it off. I wasn't there for most of it, but… actually, Team Rocket_ -"

"Team Rocket?" Misty cut in. "What were _they_ doing there?"

" _Helping him, actually; they apparently argued that they'd be out of a job if the world ended_ ," Tracey replied with a slight smile. " _He'd been trying to get to the third island on his own while Lugia kept the birds distracted, but it would have been slow going if Team Rocket hadn't salvaged a dingy and fitted it with a propeller to give him a boost… anyway, I spoke with them for a little bit after the birds had calmed down, and Jessie noted that Ash had been in a particularly grim mood during the whole experience_."

"Why would they even care?" Misty asked, wondering what the world had come to if _Jessie_ was expressing concern for Ash.

" _She said something about how it's no fun trying to steal anything from someone who isn't trying to keep it, but I don't think that's it_ …" Tracey said, his smile faltering as he looked at her with a new intensity. " _Actually, what did you say to him_?"

"What did I- I haven't even spoken to Ash since you left-!"

" _That's what I meant_ ," Tracey said, his voice surprisingly cool as he looked at her. " _He's changed ever since we left Trovita, and I only noticed it happen after he went down to the port after going off to see you, so what did you say to him_?"

"He… didn't tell you?" Misty asked, trying not to think too much about what Tracey was implying; Ash had just stormed off in his usual childish huff and made a big thing out of a loss, it wasn't because of _her_ …

" _He barely_ spoke _to me after we left apart from mentioning that you'd decided to stay and something about him only caring about his Pokemon…_ " Tracey shrugged awkwardly. " _To be honest, after his initial outburst, I was almost afraid to ask him for more details. He spent most of the next day in silence, and then he just headed to the nearest island to start some very intense training, fighting some of the local Pokemon and then moving on. I tried to get him to stop, but he just kept on moving; when we found an island known for producing larger-than normal Pokemon, he went straight to it so that he could send Snorlax and Bulbasaur out against some very large Rhydon, as well as pitting Pikachu and Squirtle against some of the local giant Pidgeot_."

"He's just… sending them out?" Misty asked, suddenly anxious about how far Ash might be pushing his team…

" _He recalls them and runs the moment he thinks it might be too much, but the fact that he was_ looking _for opportunities to train like that… it just seemed like he was pushing himself too hard even if he wouldn't put his Pokemon at risk_ ," Tracey explained. " _I mean, he even tried using Lapras for a few matches, and you know that Lapras has always seemed fine just carrying us_."

"Yeah…" Misty said, grateful to hear that Ash didn't seem to have changed that much even if he was pushing himself. "And… Charizard?"

" _He tried that a couple of times_ ," Tracey admitted, his expression shifting to a more familiar awkwardness. " _It… went as well as you'd expect_."

"Right…" Misty said, going over the timeline in her head; she had definitely started living in Trovita only a fortnight before that storm, which meant Ash must have crammed a lot of training in between his departure and whatever happened on Shamouti for Tracey to be this concerned about it. "This was all before Shamouti? Why did he-?"

Her mind froze as she suddenly remembered her last 'conversation' with Ash, during which she'd mentioned that she'd initially believed that he and Squirtle would win his battle with Starmie, only to follow it up by saying that she guessed she had been wrong.

 _And then Ash asked if I meant he still wasn't a good trainer…_

She could argue that she'd been looking for a way to make a cleaner break by using that argument to say that it was time for her to move on, but the thought that Ash had taken that comment and twisted it around to imagine that she still didn't think he was a good trainer…

She'd been harsh sometimes, but she'd never thought that he'd take it seriously enough to think that she meant that he was a bad trainer. He might not train the same way that she did, and his attitude could be a bit lax given how little time he'd spent genuinely _training_ before the Indigo League, but she wouldn't want him to become the kind of trainer who only used his Pokemon to fight and train while leaving them stuck in their balls otherwise.

 _Oh Arceus_ , she thought, her mind going over everything she'd said to him in their last meeting with a new sense of anxiety.

Talking about how she had been wrong about the winner of that battle… revealing her decision to stay with Rudy… talking about how Togepi and Rudy were the only good things to come of travelling with him… basically treating him as though he was still the stupid kid who'd sent out a Caterpie against a Pidgeotto…

He'd never seemed to take her harsher comments that seriously ever since Team Rocket attacked them for the first time during that argument in Viridian Forest when he'd captured Pidgeotto… but could she really have made him think that now?

"How did he get frostbite?" she asked, trying to get back to the more immediate concern. "I mean, if Team Rocket had that boat-?"

"The three birds attacked Ice Island before Ash could get off, and he had to hitch a ride on Lugia to get away," Tracey explained. "I only saw it from a distance, but it looked like the collector tried to capture Lugia, and Lugia managed to destroy the collector's fortress at the same time as it was trapped by… something. Ash and Lugia both fell into the water, and with Marill the only water-type anyone there had to spare, it took us a while to find him; by the time he reached the shore, he was constantly shivering no matter how close Charizard stayed to him, and Charizard wasn't in great shape-"

"I'm sorry; he used _Charizard_ in a frozen _ocean_ in the middle of an all-out showdown between three _legendary Pokemon_?" Misty yelled, falling back into old habits as she tried not to think about how close to death Ash must have been. "Why didn't he use Squirtle or Lapras? They'd-"

" _Both took a beating during an earlier attack from Zapdos when we were trying to get back to Shamouti after releasing Zapdos and Moltres; Charizard was the only Pokemon large enough to keep him afloat after Lugia was nearly captured_ ," Tracey explained, before he smiled grimly. "The good news is that it looks like Charizard's calmed down; he actually seemed to be very protective of Ash when he got back to Shamouti, and he's actually been getting along with the rest of the team while they've been resting in the hospital garden."

"So… Charizard's listening to him?" Misty asked, grateful to hear at least one bit of good news; the circumstances of it were terrible, but after all the times Ash had tried to earn the respect of his potential powerhouse, at least it sounded like he'd achieved that goal.

" _Well… I'm assuming it will, anyway; like I said, Ash has been in hospital since the storm ended_."

"Hold on; he's still in hospital after _frostbite_?" Misty asked, suddenly struck with horrific visions of Ash having to have something amputated. "How bad was he?"

"Actually, he's over the worst of it; the doctors think Charizard and Pikachu were able to keep him warm enough to avoid the worst of any potential damage, and we got him to a hospital as soon as we could once the birds had stopped fighting," Tracey explained. "It was touch-and-go for the first few days- his mother and Professor Oak were by his side until he woke up-"

"His _mother's_ there?"

The fact that Tracey hadn't mentioned Professor Oak earlier despite his initial enthusiasm about the chance to meet his hero said a great deal about how concerned he was about Ash, but the idea of Delia Ketchum coming all this way to see her son raised a few worrying ideas about just how Ash was doing.

"She came over in a helicopter with Professor Oak after they saw a news broadcast about the storm, and like I said, they've been here even since; Professor Oak hasn't even bothered to try and analyse the GS Ball until we can be sure Ash is over his… whatever this is."

"Whatever this is?" Misty repeated sceptically. "You said he was over the worst of it-"

" _The physical injuries are pretty much healed; it's his mental state that has the doctors concerned_ ," Tracey explained. " _He responds when his Pokemon come to him, but most of the time he just sits in his bed ever since he woke up, responding to a few direct questions about his health and nothing else. Professor Ivy's tried to get that 'Brock' person you mentioned to come and talk to him, but… well…_ "

"You want _me_ to try and talk to him?" Misty asked, unable to believe that she was hearing this. "Tracey, he left me behind-"

" _And then went through a radical change of behaviour that all seemed to be focused on trying to get over you_ ," Tracey countered, his entire manner strangely grim as he looked at her. " _Misty, just because I specialise in Pokemon doesn't mean that I don't pay attention when it comes to people; Ash has been pushing himself since he left Trovita because he's trying to stop himself thinking about a painful topic, and the only thing that's ever inspired_ this _kind of emotional intensity from him is you_."

Misty didn't even bother trying to awkwardly deny that; if Ash was in that kind of mood, she was going to do her best to get him out of it, no matter what she thought about Tracey's theory.

He might have left her behind, but that didn't mean she'd stopped _caring_ about him; she just needed to make him realise that moping around about some stupid argument wasn't helping anyone…

"All right," she said, nodding at Tracey in grim acceptance. "Give me a day or two to sort things out here, and I'll be there as soon as I can."

She doubted she could do anything that Oak and his mother hadn't told Ash already, but she'd spent too long with him not to at least _try_ and help him.

* * *

AN 3: Coming up next, Misty faces some uncomfortable emotional revelations about the reason for Ash's current state…


	3. Awkward Reunions

Disclaimer: I own nothing; you know the drill

Feedback: Always welcome

A Perfect Match?

The thing that amazed Misty the most about the Orange Archipelago was how close everything was. She still preferred riding around on a Pokemon like Lapras to taking a boat if there was a choice, as it gave them a chance to visit more locations without worrying about maintenance costs or anything like that, but with a decent boat, so long as you knew where you were going, you could cross greater distances without needing to worry about issues like food or rest.

She was just grateful that Rudy had offered her relatively unrestricted access to the boat once she'd made her decision; even if he wanted her to stay, he recognised that she wouldn't expand her knowledge of water Pokemon by staying in one place. Her cover story had been slightly impulsive, but Rudy seemed willing to accept the idea that she wanted to go off and do some deep-sea fishing for a couple of days, leaving her free to head over to Shamouti.

It would have been a few days out if she'd tried to travel there directly with Lapras, and they'd have needed to stop in a couple of islands on the way there to rest and eat, but the boat would get her there in a matter of hours…

 _Stop it_ , Misty told herself, smiling over at Togepi as the little egg chirped happily at the sight in front of them as Shamouti came into view. _You're just here to give Ash a good kick and then you're off; he_ left _, remember?_

She was just here to see what she could do to help an old friend, and she was getting back to Trovita; at least there she _knew_ she was appreciated.

Tracey had to be exaggerating how bad it was; he just hadn't seen Ash in a real funk before now…

As she finally reached the dock, Misty tied up the boat and ran into the city after scooping Togepi up in her arms. It didn't take long to find the hospital- Shamouti might be one of the larger islands in the Archipelago, but it still wasn't so big that something that important was hard to find- but Misty was still relieved to find Tracey sitting in the entrance area when she arrived; after spending the last few hours wondering if Ash would take a turn for the worse while she was sailing, it was a relief to see him so relatively calm.

"Misty?" the Watcher said, looking at her in surprise as he stood up. "I knew you said you'd be here soon, but…"

"Well, what can I say?" Misty smiled. "Rudy has very good boats at the gym."

"Sure," Tracey said, something flashing through his eyes that Misty couldn't identify before he looked at her with a new awkward smile. "Well… you'd better come along."

"How's he doing?" Misty asked, falling into step besides Tracey as they headed for a lift.

"He seems to be over the worst of the cold by now, but… well, if he doesn't improve soon, I've heard a couple of the doctors talking about getting a psychiatrist in to take a look at him."

"A _psychiatrist_?" Misty repeated incredulously. "Ash has felt down about losing before-"

"To the point where he can't even be bothered eating?" Tracey interjected, looking sceptically at her. "He's had a few mouthfuls when the hospital staff bring him food and won't leave him alone, but compared to what Ash is usually capable of, he's barely even picking at his meals right now. Pikachu and the others have been trying to get him back on his feet, but even his mother and Professor Oak can't seem to inspire anything from him-"

"They're here?" Misty asked, a new sense of apprehension filling her; Mrs Ketchum might just be an overprotective parent, but if even Professor Oak thought it was worth staying away from his lab to keep an eye on Ash, things were more serious than she thought. "And… what about Ash's Pokemon?"

"They're… actually, they're fine," Tracey said, smiling a little for the first time since she'd arrived. "The hospital doubles up as the Pokemon centre as Shamouti doesn't have any regular Pokemon-related activity on it normally apart from the Legend festival, so Ash's team have been resting and training in a garden here since he arrived; you could maybe… check on them first, if you want?"

"Sure," Misty smiled uncertainly, grateful for the chance to prepare herself for meeting Ash. "I'd… I'd like that."

"It's this way," Tracey said, leading her to a door on the other side of the reception, revealing a fair-sized garden with a large lake in the middle. She quickly saw Lapras swimming around in the pool with Squirtle close beside it, while Snorlax dozed against a nearby tree. Pikachu was chasing Bulbasaur around another part of the garden, and a sudden thump from another corner revealed Charizard coming in to land.

"Uh… hi, guys," Misty said, smiling at the gathered team as the six of them turned to look at her. For a moment, their expressions were just curious, but Misty's smile faltered when she noticed them all giving her a grim stare. It was hard to tell if Snorlax was glaring or just having a bad dream, but Squirtle and Lapras just returned to their usual swimming, and she didn't like the glare Charizard was giving her, even if she had come to expect that from the large dragon.

However, it was the harsh stares from Bulbasaur and Pikachu that really hurt her; she'd come to see Pikachu in particular as a close friend, and she'd appreciated Ash loaning her Bulbasaur during the Princess Festival tournament, and now both Pokemon looked like they were ready to attack her if she said the wrong thing.

"So…" she said, waving awkwardly at the six Pokemon. "How are you?"

Charizard snorted warningly in her direction before he stomped off to another corner of the small park, closely followed by Bulbasaur, Lapras, Squirtle and Snorlax showing no sign that they'd even registered her attempt at conversation.

"Pikachupi pik Pikapi," Pikachu said grimly, staring coldly up at her before he turned around and walked off to join the rest of Ash's team.

Misty had never mastered the finer details of understanding Pikachu to the same extent that Ash had, but she'd picked up enough to guess what Pikachu was saying; he was being cold to her because she'd hurt Ash.

"Hey, _he_ left _me_ …" she began, but fell silent when Bulbasaur's Vine Whips emerged from his back, the Grass-type glaring at her in a warning manner before he turned around to stalk back into the flowers around the pool, Pikachu scurrying over to another area.

The fact that it was Bulbasaur that did that only made it clearer to Misty that she wasn't going to convince anyone else about what had happened; if Ash's most rational yet sometimes-cynical Pokemon thought that she was in the wrong here, it was unlikely she'd be able to get anyone else to see her side if she tried to press the issue…

Misty almost slapped herself; she was being _stupidly_ selfish about all this! Ash was in hospital facing psychiatric evaluation; this wasn't the time to start trying to assign _blame_ for a situation that she was sure they were both happy with! She was enjoying her new life on Trovita, Ash had to be making progress with training for his rematch- Tracey just wasn't used to seeing Ash when he really pushed himself- and once she'd given him another talk to get him out of his funk they could all go back to their new lives.

With that thought firm in her mind, Misty turned around and walked back into the hospital, ignoring both Togepi's short query and Tracey's uncertain glance at her as she walked towards the lift.

"Uh… Misty, shouldn't we-?"

" _We_ need to do nothing," Misty said. "Just get me to Ash's room and I'll see what I can do; that's all I'm here for."

Her firm tone made it clear to Tracey that she wouldn't accept any argument, leaving him to press the relevant button as she stood impatiently in the lift. After a moment's ascent, the doors opened to reveal Professor Oak and Delia sitting solemnly outside a room, Delia standing up as she saw who had arrived.

"Misty!" she said, smiling at the girl in relief, walking over to give her a hug. "I'm so glad to see you; Ash could _really_ use a friend right now."

"Uh… thanks," Misty said, grateful that Tracey apparently hadn't shared his 'theory' about the reason for Ash's funk with his mother. "Sorry I wasn't here earlier, but… well…"

"Oh, Tracey mentioned that you were staying with a friend for a while; I understand," Delia said, smiling at Misty in understanding (and a hint of disappointment?).

"Thanks," Misty said, deciding not to over-analyse what Mrs Ketchum wasn't saying, before she looked over at Professor Oak as another thought occurred to her. "Professor… I'm sure Ash appreciates you being here, but what about the GS Ball?"

"Oh, that's in a safe place until I head home," the professor nodded in understanding. "I don't deny that the mystery of it is interesting, but making sure that Ash is in a good place before I go back home is more important."

"What about your lab?"

"I was able to ask a couple of neighbours to keep an eye on the Pokemon until I got back; they appreciate the reasons for this delay, and said they'd be happy to keep the Pokemon well-fed." Oak chuckled slightly. "I suppose I'll have some examples of the effects of over-eating to analyse when I get back; they always tend to overdo it at feeding time…"

"I didn't want to leave Ash like this, but I… didn't want to be alone either," Delia said, looking awkwardly at the door. "I know he's over the worst of it, but… honestly, I've never seen my little boy so depressed, even when he realised that his father wasn't going to be there…"

Misty had nothing to say to that, and suddenly felt the inadequacy of anything she might try to say to this woman even if she did.

Delia Ketchum had been the closest thing to a mother she'd had since her own parents passed away, and now she had no idea what to say to her.

Still… right now, all she had to do was help Ash get over his mood; she could work out what she was going to say to Delia once Ash was back on his feet.

 _This shouldn't take long_ , Misty told herself, as she took a deep breath before handing Togepi to Delia and walking up to the door of the room they were sitting in front of. _Ash just needs to stand up for himself and he'll be fine…_

She tried not to think about the fact that, if Tracey was right, Ash had been in his latest funk for the better part of a month, and it was all because of _her_ …

* * *

AN: I apologise to anyone who wanted to see Ash at this point in the storyline, but I decided that his upcoming confrontation with Misty deserved a chapter to itself, considering that they have several issues to deal with right now…


	4. Emotional Clash

Disclaimer: I own nothing; you know the drill

Feedback: Always welcome

AN: For the record, disregarding how the anime seems to keep Ash at ten and 'reset' his intellect each season (I appreciate that the show wants to introduce new Pokemon, but seriously, if he switched his team around a bit more he'd win far easily and more regularly than just the more unofficial things like the Battle Frontier or Orange Islands), I'm making him close to thirteen by this point, assuming that he spent over a year travelling and training for the Indigo League and has been travelling the Orange Islands for a few months (Particularly when we _know_ that two months passed during the eight episodes Ash spent training in Pallet Town before the Indigo League); whether he's slightly older or younger than that is your call, but I felt it was important to confirm that he's in a teenage emotional state rather than perpetually stuck at a pre-teen level

A Perfect Match?

Looking at Ash as he lay in his hospital bed, wearing simple hospital pyjamas rather than his usual sleeping clothes as he stared out of the window, Misty was struck by the thought that she'd never actually seen Ash looking so down before. He'd avoided looking at her after his loss to Ritchie until she'd pushed him to the point that he stood up to yell at her, and any other funk he'd been in had just been a few moments before he resolved to try again, but this…

 _No_ , Misty told herself, refusing to let herself feel sorry about her decision.

They had each reached a point where they had to move on with their lives; she couldn't keep hanging around with some kid who thought every loss was the end of the world! She was with a mature boy who actually cared about her feelings and had given her the closest thing to a fixed home she'd had since her parents died and her sisters lost interest in anything but showing off; she was just here to help out an old friend…

"Hi," she said as she closed the door behind her, prompting Ash to turn and look at his new guest.

"Misty?" he said, clearly surprised to see her. "What are you doing here?"

"Tracey called," Misty said, looking at him with a firm stare. "He thought that… well…"

"I get it," Ash said, his manner becoming more sullen as he looked at her, as though he'd been hoping for another explanation. "I'm just surprised you bothered to come."

"What?" Misty asked, so thrown at that statement that she couldn't even think of a good counter to it.

"Why bother coming all this way to see some stupid kid?" Ash continued, his tone still bitter as he stared at the wall on the opposite side of the room. "Wasn't that what you called me last time we spoke?"

"I just said that you could have won that match-"

"Which is another way of saying I'm still no good," Ash said bitterly. "Everything we've been through, and then I fail one match-"

"Hold on; is this all about that?" Misty countered, unable to believe that Ash could be this small-minded after over two years of travelling together. "That's just _you_ all over, isn't it? You know, I went there to have a serious discussion with you about my future, but all you wanted to talk about was your latest loss, and then you stormed off in a stupid hissy fit because-!"

"Excuse me?" Ash interrupted. "You thought I left Trovita like that just because I lost the match?"

"After all that time you spent sulking over losing to Ritchie-"

"That was a fight I'd never have another shot at after I lost it; when have I _ever_ let losing to a Gym Leader stop me trying for the badge again later?" Ash countered, sitting up in the bed for the first time to look at her directly. "I can take losing an important match when I can have another shot at it; what I _can't_ take is learning that my 'best friend' doesn't _give a crap_!"

Misty blinked.

"Excuse me?" she said, uncertain if she'd heard Ash correctly.

"Come on, I lose a match, and then you tell me that you're leaving to stay with the guy who beat me _and_ that you think I'm a bad trainer in pretty much the same sentence; why the _hell_ would I want to stick around after that?" Ash said, a bitter edge to his voice that felt so wrong to Misty after seeing Ash so cheerful and optimistic most of the time. "You said that I was 'too young to get it' after that stupid mess with Ralph and Emily and their Nidoran, but I get that 'boyfriend' beats 'friend', and I also get that it doesn't take a genius to see I can't have meant that much to you if you could just _ditch_ me so easily for someone you just _met_."

"It wasn't-" Misty began, trying to ignore the bitter edge to Ash's tone and focus on arguing about doing what was right for her.

"I get that you think I'm dense, but nobody's _that_ dense," Ash said, his tone becoming more twisted as he spoke, along with a tremor to his shoulders as though he was trying to stop himself breaking down. "If you're happier with Rudy, that's fine, you can live your own life… who cares if some stupid kid misses you… maybe now you can get that bike back…"

"My _bike_?" Misty repeated incredulously, before she suddenly found herself remembering all those past conversations about the object in question; as she thought about it all over again, bringing it up like that after Ash got his Volcanobadge _might_ have been pushing things, especially when Ash clearly hadn't wanted to think about that time…

"That's why you hung around for so long, wasn't it?" Ash said, voice trembling as he looked away from her, body curling over as he lay in the bed. "It was always just about the damn bike… all you ever cared about was me paying you back for a stupid accident… everything you did was about waiting for me to give you the money for it… you never wanted to be there for any of it…"

Even if his words would have inspired anger under normal circumstances, right now, Misty just felt like crying.

Ash had endured so much since starting on his journey, ranging from his initial mistakes with Pikachu and Caterpie to all the hassle caused by Team Rocket, and even his bigger moments like facing those two giants at Pokemopolis advancing on Pallet Town, but the thing that had broken him like this was the thought that she'd never cared about him.

It wasn't even the fact that she'd left that was the real problem; when he'd released Butterfree and Pidgeot to make their own lives, and when he'd been prepared to leave Pikachu behind after they met that herd of wild Pikachu, Ash had always made it clear that he recognised that doing this was the best thing for _them_ (or at least believed it was in Pikachu's case before his starter proved him wrong), and that had been enough to help him through it.

What mattered most to Ash was building relationships with his Pokemon and his friends, and what she'd done had essentially proven to him that his longest-standing human relationship since he began his journey meant nothing.

Looking at the young trainer from Pallet town, Misty realised that Tracey had been wrong about his theory even if he'd been right about the essential details; Ash wasn't having trouble with the fact that she'd left him, but with the idea that he thought she'd left him because she'd never _cared_ about him.

"Maybe you should just get Rudy to replace it…" Ash said grimly, ignorant of Misty's own epiphany as he stared at the opposite wall. "At least he could probably cover it-"

"Ash, do you even remember that I'd actually _forgotten_ about that bike by the time we got to Cinnabar Island?" Misty interjected, not even thinking about the consequences of this declaration as she looked at her friend. "I was staying with you because I _wanted_ to; I just started on the bike again after Brock reminded me about it because I thought… well, I don't know _what_ I thought, but the point is-"

"You wanted to _then_ and you don't now," Ash interjected grimly. "Like I said, I get that things change; I'm not just some dumb kid… even if I get that I'm still a bad trainer."

"Excuse me?"

"You always said I didn't train properly, and you were right," Ash clarified grimly. "The fact that we've been travelling on Lapras a lot gives me an excuse for it here, but even back in Kanto I never gave my Pokemon the training they really needed; I pretty much just let them all have fun rather than really work on it for later."

"There's nothing wrong with wanting your Pokemon to enjoy themselves-"

"Except when I keep on slacking off thinking I can just wing it and it ends up with Charizard taking ages to listen to me and Squirtle getting hurt," Ash spat. "I've always tried training my way and I _still_ keep losing, so I thought if I pushed myself to get better I'd improve my chances, but everyone were so tired after all that work I'd been making them do…"

He trailed off, but Misty remembered what Tracey had told her about Ash's actions after leaving Trovita and suddenly felt worse; Ash had been pushing his Pokemon so hard, trying to adjust a training method that had helped him reach the Top Sixteen on his first Pokemon League competition against several more experienced trainers, just because he thought she still considered him an idiot?

"Ash…" Misty began, wishing she could say something but lost for words in the face of his self-doubt.

"Maybe you were right…" Ash continued, shoulders shaking as he bent over in bed. "I just don't… why did you even stay with me for so long?"

"Ash, I-"

"I know we argued a lot, but I really did like having you around, and then you said you were leaving and I wasn't sure if it was the bike or me and I thought you'd finally just lost patience with me for being so stupid…"

A rough sob tore from Ash's throat at the memory, Misty only able to stare at him in silence as he let out his pain and fears. "You've been there since the beginning, and if you still thought I couldn't cut it… if you still thought I was just screwing up and knew nothing… you were only there because of the damn bike…"

He turned his head slightly to press his face into the pillow, his voice becoming more indistinct as his sobs grew. "Squirtle got hurt because I couldn't focus, and all I could think about was that you weren't cheering for me any more… you didn't even want to _pretend_ you believed in me any more…"

"Ash…" Misty began again, only to find herself stuck for what she could say to that.

Looking at her best friend barely able to hold in his tears as he talked about how she'd lost faith in him, Misty couldn't believe how cruel she'd been; Ash was many things, but the last thing she should have ever thought of him as was uncaring.

He was still emotionally dense, but after all the times she'd seen him take risks for complete strangers when nobody would have blamed him for just walking on, how could she have thought that he had just left her because he was upset about a single loss?

It wasn't that he didn't care, he was just terrible at _showing_ that he cared… and then she had to make it worse by dismissing him like he was still just an idiot kid when he was shaken after one of his oldest friends took such a beating, leaving him to run away because he couldn't bear the thought of seeing her cheering for his opponent when he tried to beat that opponent again.

 _Why didn't I see it_? Misty asked herself, remembering how Ash had stared so helplessly at Squirtle as Rudy's Starmie struck it with that Thunderbolt.

Ash hadn't frozen because he didn't know what to do; it was because he felt so helpless at seeing his Pokemon in pain from such an unexpected attack.

 _Maybe if I'd said something…_

She shook that thought off; Ash was dealing with enough self-loathing issues for her to start wondering if she could have done anything to make a difference to his mood back then.

She still wasn't sure how she felt about the implication of how much of his own self-worth seemed to be invested in her opinion of him, but after hearing his concerns about his training, there was something she _had_ to let him know.

"Ash," she said firmly, "when I met you, I thought you were just some dense, arrogant bully who'd never get anywhere-"

"Thanks for _that_ -"

" _But_ ," she interjected, refusing to let him interrupt this statement as she moved over to sit down on his bed and place a hand on his shoulder, "putting aside the fact that you tried to use Pikachu in a battle when it was still healing, after I saw you capture that Caterpie, even if I still thought you were stupid, I could see how much you really cared about that thing. Maybe you were an idiot for using it to try and catch Pidgeotto, but when you had to use it again for that first battle with Team Rocket and it evolved into Metapod, after you tried to make sure that I protected Pikachu from them… I realised that you might be stupid and arrogant, but you _were_ able to learn from your mistakes, and you really did care about your Pokemon. I know I've criticised how often you train or what you do when training, but I've never doubted that you're going to get somewhere ever since that day; no amount of training could ever make you better at caring for your Pokemon than you already are, and that's something where you're better than many other trainers I've known."

 _Including Rudy_ , a traitorous part of Misty's mind noted, but she pushed that aside; Rudy didn't care as much about his Pokemon as Ash did, but he wasn't _cruel_ to them.

"But I still lost the match…"

"Because you were worried about Squirtle, not because you're _bad_ at training," Misty reaffirmed, her attention back on the boy in front of her. "Besides, how can you think you're no good after what you've just done? From what Tracey told me, you saved the _world_ -"

"Lugia did the real work; all I had to do was get a few glass balls to a shrine," Ash said dismissively, even if Misty was glad to see that he'd stopped crying.

"And how many people would be willing to do something that crazy?"

"I just got stuck in the middle of it; if I could have backed out-"

" _You_ wanted to _back out_?" Misty asked, her attempts at reassurance forgotten in the face of such an impossible statement; Ash backing out because he was in danger was the equivalent of Team Rocket giving up on trying to catch Pikachu to run a soup kitchen. "What happened to the kid who tried to catch that giant Gengar and Alakazam to save his town?"

"He realised that his best friend still saw him as a 'kid' even after everything else he'd done and wondered what the point was of anything."

"And… and that matters _that much_ to you?" Misty asked, curiosity overwhelming her compassion for a moment. "I mean, you still had Tracey, and you _know_ your Pokemon believe in you-"

"But it's not the same," Ash said, his voice suddenly quieter as though he was ashamed to admit this. "You've been there from the start… I've known you almost as long as I've known Pikachu… and even after everything, I wanted you there every moment you were gone…"

"Me?" Misty looked at him in surprise. "But… I mean, after everything I said…"

"I know it doesn't make sense, but… even when Brock was there, I always wanted _your_ opinion more than his… and I guess I _still_ want it…" Ash said, his voice lower as if he was afraid she'd hit him for saying any of this. "I tried to tell myself to get over it because you never really meant any of it, but you just… I always wanted to do better when I knew you were watching, and it never felt right having any kind of battle without you there to say _something_ , and then you were gone and I didn't know why I wanted to keep going when you thought I was still an idiot…"

It was the tone of absolute dejection in Ash's voice that made up Misty's mind about what she was going to do. Lost for anything else that she could do to make her point, Misty walked over to the bed, grabbed Ash by the collar of his pyjamas, and pulled his lips to hers before she could think too much about what she was doing.

She'd gone along with Rudy's efforts to initiate a kiss, but she'd never felt anything more than his mouth against hers, no matter what he tried; the electric shock that she felt when her lips met Ash's blew the memory of every awkward kiss she'd shared with the Trovita Island Gym Leader out of the water. He might be older and more experienced (even if Misty had never asked for explicit details of Rudy's past romantic history), but there was just something about the fact that this was _Ash Ketchum_ she was kissing that made it all better…

Then Ash started to return her kiss, and everything reached a level beyond anything Misty could have imagined. As she moved her hands from Ash's collar to wrap her arms around his neck, Misty could only marvel at how Ash was making her feel when she knew he'd never done anything like this before, hands reaching out to run over her back and hold her closer, Misty falling forwards before she realised what was happening-

The kiss was interrupted as Ash let out a sharp gasp for air as Misty's elbow hit him in the chest by accident, prompting both of them to separate even as Misty stayed where she was, unconcerned about the fact that she was draped over Ash as he lay in bed.

 _Wow_ … Misty thought, raising her left hand to her lips even as her right hand kept her over Ash.

She suddenly understood why everyone enjoyed kissing in films so much if that was how it was _meant_ to feel.

"So… _that's_ what you meant…" Ash said, looking at Misty with a dazed, awkward grin. "When you suggested that… well, people change when they get… kissed?"

"Oh yeah," Misty smiled back at Ash, before leaning over to give him another quick peck. "And trust me, there's more where _that_ came from if you want it…"

"I…" Ash began, only for his smile to falter as he looked at her in confusion. "But… but if you… I just… you _left_ …"

"And… that's my fault," Misty admitted, putting her pride aside as she looked at her friend; she might have only just realised that she'd been an idiot, but even if this was going to be a difficult talk, Ash deserved honesty after how she'd hurt him. "Ash… I made a mistake back on Trovita. I've always… well, I didn't think about it much, but I did have… _feelings_ … but then Rudy appeared and I just got so… caught up in someone actually _showing_ me how they felt that I didn't really stop to think about… about what I _really_ wanted."

"What you…" Ash began, before his eyes widened. "Me?"

"What can I say?" Misty smiled. "Even without that little speech of yours, it's not every day I meet someone who cares that much about what happens to even the Pokemon that either ignores or attacks him ever since it evolved, or goes as far as to steal my bike to save the mouse that hasn't been listening to him since he got it…"

"Except I still end up getting them into a state," Ash said, his smile faltering once again. "And last time it was all my fault; Squirtle and Lapras were so tired they couldn't do anything, I should have been doing more with Snorlax, and Charizard was only in better shape because I hadn't been making him do that much in case he attacked me… he nearly _drowned_ before he got us to shore…"

"But he _is_ concerned about you now," Misty cut, smiling reassuringly at him. "Seriously, when I saw Charizard downstairs, I thought he was going to fire a Flamethrower at _me_."

"Oh… sorry 'bout that-"

"But that's my _point_ ; even _Charizard_ believes in you now, even after ignoring you for months, because you always show that you care about everything, even when they may not… well, when you have to work to see _anything_ that would make them worth helping."

"And… that's a good thing?"

"It's a _very_ good thing," Misty smiled, leaning over to give him a brief peck on the lips, less passionate but no less emotional than their earlier kiss. "Believe me, I might have been an idiot when I left you, but… well, whatever I might have said, I've never _not_ had faith in you, and-"

"Misty," Ash cut in, looking at her with a seriousness she'd rarely seen him display, "if you're about to say what I think you're about to say, don't."

"Huh?"

"Believe me, I want you back, but…" Ash paused for a moment as he moved to sit up in the bed, Misty adjusting her position so that she was sitting on the side even as she kept looking at him. "It's just… we've both just been through a lot, and even if I get that I don't know much about this stuff… well, I ended up here because I was feeling depressed after I made a… well, I ran out because I was feeling hurt and didn't stop to think, and I don't want to risk you doing anything… _sudden_ and feeling like you made a mistake later."

"Ash-"

"No," Ash interjected, turning his head as though he couldn't make himself say this if he kept looking at her. "I'll try and get back to Trovita in a week or so to try for Rudy's Badge again once I'm back on my feet and had a bit of time to work with the team, and you can… make up your mind then."

Misty would have objected to this even a few minutes ago, but she recognised that, as strange as it was to think of the 'kid' who'd destroyed her bike as being the emotionally smart one, Ash was right. At the moment, emotions were flying high all around them, and it would be easy to resent someone if they did anything now and then regretted it later, even for a moment but taking a few days to think about things would probably be the best way to be sure that nobody was just riding high or low after Ash's close call and everything they'd just said.

It was the most frustrating thing Ash could have said to her right now, but it was also the most mature thing she'd ever heard him say to anyone; even if she hated what he'd said, she appreciated the fact that he'd said it.

"OK," she said, standing up from the bed as she gave him a firm look. "But you _will_ be there, right?"

"Oh, I'll be there," Ash nodded, a smile spreading across his face as he looked back at her. "And I've even got my new strategy all worked out… so long as you're there."

Not wanting to say any more in case it made this too hard, Misty gave Ash one last kiss before she walked out of his room, trying to hide the spring in her step at the thought of what had just happened.

She'd use the time Ash had given her to make sure she was comfortable with her choice before she told anyone else what had just happened, but she could at least let Tracey, Professor Oak and Delia know that he was going to be back on his feet soon…

* * *

AN 2: Hope you all enjoyed that; coming up next, Ash and Rudy's rematch as Misty makes her final decision, and then this story concludes (One last time, if anyone has a vote for what Pokemon Rudy might use for a Normal-type match, feel free to cast it; I have an idea, but I'm open to alternatives if they're offered with a good argument)


	5. The Final Resolution

Disclaimer: I own nothing; you know the drill

Feedback: Always welcome

AN: Technically, I finished this one ages ago, but when I realised what the theme was for PokeShipping Week Day 3, I decided to just 'bump it up' in homage to the day's theme, considering how I pretty much nailed it without even trying.

A Perfect Match?

Almost a week after her trip to Shamouti Island, Misty was both relieved and anxious to find that her decision hadn't changed.

Since returning to Trovita, when she wasn't training her Pokemon or spending time with Rudy and/or Mahri, she'd gone over everything that she and Ash had discussed during that talk in the hospital, as well as everything she'd never seriously thought about during her earlier travels with Ash.

As hard as it was to recognise how many mistakes she'd made, Misty was particularly ashamed to realise that every way she looked at it, Rudy came up short compared to the young Pallet Town resident where it really mattered.

Maybe Rudy was the more expressive when it came to showing Misty that he thought she was… attractive… but the fact that Ash didn't show how he felt that much just made the moments when he did express his feelings all the more valuable as far as Misty was concerned. She enjoyed being complimented as much as the next girl, but when someone did it as often as Rudy did Misty wasn't sure if she needed to do something different with her appearance to keep up his interest or if he just thought she was so pretty all the time that it became boring to hear it.

Ash, on the other hand… he might not have explicitly called her 'pretty' or anything like that during the Maiden's Peak festival or the Princess Day contest, but the way he'd reacted to seeing her dressed up like that had definitely stuck in Misty's memory (and maybe that Goldeen costume she'd worn when she was roped into acting as Melvin's assistant, but she mainly remembered that one for how embarrassing it had been for Ash and Brock to see her like that).

Sitting up to stare thoughtfully at Psyduck's Poke ball out of a lack of anything else to do, Misty was disappointed with herself when she realised that once she got past Rudy's more active flirting, apart from his genuine care for his sister, she didn't like Rudy's overall personality that much. She had no problem with someone being confident, but the way he'd been so dismissive of Ash when he arrived on Trovita even when he was trying to complete that target test of Rudy's had been a bit harsh; she'd just been too busy enjoying Rudy paying attention to _her_ to think about that at the time.

And the way Rudy acted like he was always going to win his battles while his challengers didn't have a chance…

OK, Ash could get overconfident himself, but he never went into battle thinking of his opponents as pathetic; he just sometimes forgot that he wasn't as good as he might think he was. Even at his worst, he never treated his opponents like they had no chance, but just thought of himself as being good enough to beat anything; his comment about a fight with her being an 'easy win' during his winning streak before they met Lorelai was more of a joke than a serious insult. Maybe Rudy's confidence in his skills was justified given what Misty had seen of him, but Ash was really working on his overconfidence thing most of the time, even if he needed Lorelai to get him off his latest 'streak' during his training on the other side of the island.

Even Ash and Rudy's approach to Pokemon battles was different, and she wasn't just thinking about the fact that Rudy taught his Pokemon how to dance. Where Ash focused on making sure his Pokemon won their fights- she still recalled how panicked he'd been after that close call with Blaine's Magmar in their first battle- Rudy seemed to almost enjoy seeing his opponent's Pokemon unable to do anything to his, such as the way he'd 'thanked' Ash for recharging Electabuzz's batteries. The dancing might be an interesting style of battle that allowed Rudy's Pokemon to evade its opponents' attacks, but Rudy seemed to use it as an excuse to mock his opponent's shortcomings, when in Misty's view a good gym leader should encourage their opponents to develop rather than put them down all the time.

In the end, when she looked at their respective goals in Pokemon battles, Ash was always trying to help his Pokemon win, where Rudy's focus was on making sure his opponents lost; it might seem like a subtle difference, but it was a vital one as far as Misty was concerned.

OK, maybe spending time with either of them meant that her own dreams were slightly limited in favour of what the boys wanted to do, but Rudy seemed to expect her to always come back to him, whereas all Ash 'wanted' from her was her company as he travelled, and he had made it clear more than once that he was willing to take a detour if she had a clear reason for it (him ignoring her suggestions that they not go to Cerulean City early in their travels didn't count because she'd never really told him why she didn't want to go there apart from some stupid impulsive story about Ghost Pokemon she could barely remember).

It hurt to admit that she'd been so self-centred and stupid, but in the end, Misty had only stayed with Rudy because he was attractive and he'd admitted that he found her attractive; however you looked at it, that was a terrible reason to stay with someone she'd just met.

Unfortunately, even if Misty had made her choice, she still needed Ash to get here so that she could let him know what she'd decided. What worried her right now was whether or not Ash would even show up. After everything he'd said to her, she wanted to believe in him, but at the same time, memories of everything she'd said to him over their journey together, along with her own insecurities about people always passing her over…

Frankly, she was just grateful that Rudy had been away on a meeting of some sort in another part of the Orange Islands when she got back; from what Mahri had heard, there had been some concern about the aftermath of those fluke weather conditions caused by the Legendary Birds' conflict, so Professor Ivy had called the gym leaders together to go over what they knew and make sure there had been nothing else to worry about. Rudy had been anxious to see her when he got back, but he had accepted her 'cover story' that she'd taken another trip and hadn't pushed it.

It had given her some time to think about both of the men in her life without having to worry about anything more than keeping an eye on Mahri, but if Ash didn't get here soon, she didn't know what she was going to do. Rudy might be willing to let her set the pace, but he was starting to look at her in a manner that made it clear he'd realised that she was trying to avoid spending too much time with him, even if he was definitely wrong about her reasons for it.

When she looked down to the pier and saw a Lapras swimming towards the shore, she could have sang for relief; once Ash had his badge, she could make her choice clear (The thought that Ash might lose the match again never crossed her mind). When she saw Rudy and some of the other gym staff heading down to greet their guest, she quickly grabbed her Poke Balls and hurried down after them, taking care to stay at the back of the group despite Mahri's attempts to wave her up to the front.

Right now, no matter how she felt, Ash needed to focus if he was going to have every chance of winning this match, and telling anyone what choice she'd made wouldn't make it easy for anyone to concentrate on the match…

"Rudy," Ash said as he got off Lapras, Tracey looking uncomfortable even as he stood beside him.

"Ash Ketchum?" Rudy said, smiling confidently as he looked at the younger man. "So you decided to come back? Ready for another-"

"Look," Ash cut in, looking firmly at Rudy, "I already completed your target test last time I was here and I've kept up with my training on that score easily enough, so I think we can get down to the battle element; Water, Normal and Fire good with you?"

"Water again?" Rudy looked at Ash in surprise, before he shrugged nonchalantly. "Your call; it's not my job to decide what you want to use."

"Let's just get on with it," Ash countered, arms folded as he looked at the older trainer. "Believe me, I'm ready when you are."

Looking at the two young men as they prepared for their upcoming battle, Misty didn't know if she should feel annoyed or touched at the sudden thought that, in some way, this battle could be seen as being about her as well as just the Badge.

Frankly, it was easier to worry about what kind of strategy Ash had that would let him defeat Rudy's Starmie than think about that kind of thing in depth; even if Ash clearly wanted to focus on the battle right now, Misty didn't want to feel like she was going to play that big a part in something this important to her… friend… when he didn't even know how she felt for certain yet.

* * *

As he stood on top of the rock that had served as the site of his most emotionally devastating battle yet, Ash tried not to look up at the balloon floating above them; he knew that Misty was up there, but he couldn't bring himself to look for her. Tracey had spoken to Misty since their arrival, but even if it had been his decision for Misty to come back here, he wasn't sure he was ready to see how she felt when he already felt like his future was riding on this in more ways than one.

Ever since that kiss had prompted him to re-evaluate his old relationship with Misty, Ash had realised that, in his own way, Tracey had been right; he still wasn't sure exactly what he felt for Misty, but he was certain that he… had far deeper feelings for her than any other girl he'd met.

She'd always been there since he started his journey, and he'd always been aware that he valued her opinion more than Brock's for some reason despite Brock being the older of the two, but when she'd kissed him like that…

He'd noticed that Misty was beautiful during the Princess Festival or that time in Maiden's Peak, but that was the first time he'd realised that he'd always found her attractive even when she was normal. His brief 'infatuation' with Giselle aside- something that made him cringe when he looked back on it now and remembered how egocentric she'd been once she started talking- he'd always recognised that certain girls were attractive even without Brock's reaction to them, but Misty managed to appeal to him without her even needed to dress herself up in a particular manner…

He pushed those thoughts aside as the announcer on the Pidgeot above them began to announce the rules; he couldn't let himself get distracted right now, even if thinking about Misty was preferable to worrying about this match. He had faith that Misty's decision wouldn't be affected by the outcome of one match after their last conversation, but if he didn't know what she'd chosen after their week apart, he could make himself focus on what he had to do down here more easily…

As the announcer finished clarifying the rules, Ash gritted his teeth as he reached behind his back to check his Poke balls; he had a strategy for the upcoming match, but part of that depended on whether or not Rudy used the same Pokemon for his type-match battles as he had before.

"All right," Rudy said, after the announcer had confirmed the type match-up for the first battle, "Starmie, I choose you!"

"Squirtle, I choose you!" Ash countered, summoning his first Water-type once again, the turtle Pokemon emerging with no sign of fear as it faced the foe that had caused it such pain in their last clash. "Water Gun!"

"Cue music!" Rudy called out, snapping his fingers as music began to play. Just like in Ash's last battle with the Trovita Island gym leader, Starmie began to spin on its central tip, neatly weaving around Squirtle's Water Guns without any of the attacks striking home.

"Bubblebeam!" Ash yelled; Water Gun was good, but he didn't want to just make Starmie tired.

"Keep on dancing!" Rudy yelled as Starmie continued to spin on its tip. A few bubbles managed to make contact given the wider range of this move, but it was clear that Starmie was still evading the worst of the damage. "You're not going to win _that_ way, Ash; didn't you learn anything?"

 _Just wait_ … Ash told himself; he wanted to let Rudy play his 'trump card' before he delivered his own.

"Time to wrap this up again," Rudy grinned, flipping his hair back as he smiled upwards (and it _didn't_ matter if he was looking at Misty or not; Ash had to _focus_ right now). "Starmie, spin yourself into-"

"Squirtle, use Hydro Pump!" Ash yelled. He briefly heard Misty yell in surprise that he'd called for that move before Squirtle retreated into its shell and water burst from all of the holes in its shell at once. The sweeping wave of water struck Starmie before it could charge up the ordered Thunderbolt, sending it back to the ground as it looked as confused as it was possible for something without a face to look.

"Follow it up with Skull Bash!" Ash ordered, pointing at the dazed Starmie. The evolved starfish-like Pokemon was so shaken by the Hydro Pump that it missed the opportunity to dodge the next attack, Squirtle striking Starmie directly in the gem. "Now, finish it with Water Gun!"

It might have been excessive, but as Squirtle's Water Gun sent Starmie flying further into the air before it finally came crashing down to the ground, the weakly-blinking gem confirming his victory, Ash felt that he'd made the right choice.

Even if he consciously knew that Misty had told him she hadn't left just because of this battle, that didn't stop him _feeling_ like he needed to do more this time around, and it wasn't just for the sake of his next badge…

"Nice job," Rudy said, his tone grim as he recalled Starmie while fixing his gaze on Ash. "But don't think that this is going to end any differently than last time just because you're trying a few new tricks! Raticate, I choose you!"

"Raticate, huh?" Ash said, smiling in acknowledgement as he looked at the large brown rat; he'd thought a lot about what kind of Normal-type Pokemon Rudy might use given his particular battle style, and was pleased to see that he'd been on the right track with his guess (Chansey, Kangaskhan and Lickitung had been crossed out as he couldn't see any of them as good dancers, but there'd still been some concern that Rudy would go for something smaller and more agile than his own choice). "In that case… Tauros, I choose you!"

He heard a surprised gasp from the balloon above him, but refused to look up; he had a strategy behind his choice of Tauros beyond the fact that Snorlax wouldn't have worked on a narrow battlefield like this, and he was going to go with it.

"Tackle attack!" he yelled, pointing at the Raticate squatting opposite Tauros as the bull Pokemon charged at its foe. Raticate leapt out of the way before the attack could strike, but Ash wasn't concerned about that; he'd expected that Raticate would be as agile on its feet as Rudy's other Pokemon, so the challenge right now was getting a feel for just _how_ fast it was. "Try another Tackle!"

"Keep on dodging it, Raticate!" Rudy yelled, chuckling in amusement after a few moments of battle had simply seen Tauros charge towards Raticate and miss it at the last minute. "Do you really think doing the same thing over and over is going to change anything, Ash?"

"Why change what works?" Ash countered, as he noted Raticate starting to pant.

"Excuse me?" Rudy asked, looking at Ash with a new sense of surprise.

"Maybe your Raticate's fast, but Tauros spends most of its time running around large fields as the leader of a whole herd; Raticate's good, but I'm guessing Tauros is in better shape!" Ash said, smiling as Tauros came to a halt in front of Raticate, the large rat now obviously trying to catch its breath. "Horn Attack!"

"Hyper Fang!" Rudy yelled, obviously recognising that he couldn't keep on dodging. As Tauros charged forwards, Raticate leapt over its head and bit down on the bull's back, but Tauros's horns struck the rat in the side before it could get away.

"Give it a Take Down!" Ash yelled, the bull charging towards Raticate even as it hit the ground. Raticate tried to jump to safety, but the bull was moving too quickly for the rat to get away in time, hitting it in the chest once again.

"Hang in there, Raticate!" Rudy yelled at the bruised and gasping rat. "Hit it with Jump Kick!"

"Tauros, try to dodge it!" Ash yelled, but the rat moved too quickly for Tauros to evade. As the rat's foot struck Tauros in the side, the bull roared in pain as it fell to the ground, wincing at the impact. "Tauros, are you OK?"

The roar he received in response to his question helped reassure Ash that his Pokemon was still standing, but he was getting worried; Tauros had been able to keep up with Raticate so far, but both were starting to slow down and Tauros was still a bigger target

"However it's feeling, there's no way it can take _this_!" Rudy said, looking more confident than he had a right to after the damage he'd taken so far. "Raticate, Hyper Beam!"

"Tauros, Earthquake!" Ash yelled; it was a risk trying something like Earthquake in a narrow area, but with Tauros this tired he needed something powerful with a wide effect to increase his chances of hitting Raticate. As Tauros slammed its front hooves into the ground, the stone pillar shook beneath his feet, prompting Ash and Pikachu to hit the ground before Raticate's own Hyper Beam stirred up a mass of dust around the battlefield. As the dust finally cleared, Ash wasn't sure how to feel when he saw both Pokemon lying unconscious; one draw should be enough for him if he could win the third match, but he would have preferred a clearer victory for Tauros's sake.

" _In the match-up of Tauros and Raticate_ ," the announcer concluded from above, " _since both Pokemon fainted at the same time, this confrontation shall be considered a draw, which means that the victor of the next round shall decide the full match_!"

"Right then," Rudy said, smiling as he pulled out his next Poke Ball. "Time to finish this; Ninetails, go!"

"Charizard, I choose you!" Ash yelled, smiling in satisfaction as his most powerful Pokemon emerged, the dragon-like Fire type looking dismissively at Ninetails.

"You're using _that_ thing?" Rudy said, looking at the dragon-like Fire type in surprise. "You couldn't control it during the target test; what makes you think you can control it now? Ninetails, Flamethr-"

"Charizard, Wing Attack!" Ash interjected. Roaring in confirmation, Charizard flapped its wings once and charged towards Ninetails, striking the beautiful fox-like Pokemon with its left wing and sending it flying into the air.

"What?" Rudy looked at the now-flying fox in shock. "But Misty said-"

"I did say I've been training, right?" Ash smirked at Rudy's shock, not wanting to think about what Misty might have told his current opponent. "Charizard, catch Ninetails and give it a Seismic Toss!"

Letting out another roar of confirmation, Charizard grabbed Ninetails mid-air and then hurtled up into the air. Circling around in the air for a moment, Charizard then dived towards the ground, releasing Ninetails to strike the ground with great force. By the time Charizard had landed beside Ash, it was clear that Ninetails wasn't getting back up, the announcer's voice drowned out as Charizard roared triumphantly into the air while Ash jumped up to give the dragon a hug.

It was a simple victory, but after the mess he'd made of this battle last time, it was a very much appreciated one.

He just hoped that he wasn't about to lose what mattered most…

Watching the battle from above, Misty had never been more grateful to see Ash win a battle.

It wouldn't have made a difference to her choice one way or the other, but now she could give him his second bit of good news for the day, rather than him losing the match and leaving them both in the awkward position of having to see Rudy again when Ash tried for a rematch. Misty felt bad when she heard Mahri crying briefly beside her at her brother's loss, but with Misty's own plans, it was best to give the girl a clean break rather than sending out confusing signals.

As soon as the observation balloon had touched down on the battlefield pillar, Misty only paused to hand Togepi to Tracey before she leapt out and ran past Rudy to practically jump on Ash, their lips meeting in a new kiss that captured everything they'd talked about in their last meeting.

In the back of her mind, Misty vaguely registered a few cries of shock at her actions, along with one or two outraged yells, but she didn't care about any of that; all that mattered was that she was back where she _really_ belonged.

As Misty stepped back from Ash, she gave him a warm smile as she placed a hand on the side of his face. "Just to make it clear… I choose _you_ , Ash."

"…Me too," Ash smiled back, a slightly goofy grin on his face that reminded Misty of his glee when he won his first match in the Indigo League.

Considering how obsessed he'd been with Pokemon for so many years, the idea that she could inspire that level of devotion in him this soon in their relationship…

" _What_?"

"Right, that…" Misty said, the mood lost as she remembered the other thing she had to do before she and Ash could move on from Trovita as she turned to look at the gym leader. "Rudy… I'm going with Ash."

"NO!" Mahri yelled, shoving her way past Tracey and the other observers to wrap her arms around Misty's legs. "You can't leave! You shouldn't care if Rudy lost; you're my big sister-!"

"Mahri," Misty said, cutting off the little girl's words before this could become any harder. "I appreciate the sentiment, but I'm not your sister… and I'm not leaving because Rudy lost."

"Then _why_?" Mahri asked, even as she stepped back from Misty to look tearfully up at her. "Is it-"

"It's not anything you did either, Mahri; I'm leaving because I realised… I decided to stay here for the wrong reasons," Misty said, trying to avoid saying anything that would hurt the little girl's feelings. "Your brother showed me something I thought I needed… but I realised that Ash was always willing to give me what I truly wanted."

"But he's just going around all over the place; Rudy's a _Gym Leader_ -!"

"Mahri, if I was the type of girl who wanted to stay at the Gym because your brother had nicer things to offer me than Ash does, I don't think you'd _want_ me to stay here," Misty said, almost wishing that this conversation was harder; as energetic as Mahri was, Misty was starting to realise just how right she'd been when she mused on how much Mahri defined herself by her relationship with her brother. "I'm going with Ash because I… what I feel for him…"

"Is more than you ever felt for me," Rudy finished for her, looking at the Water trainer in a solemn manner. "What happened?"

"I got a call last week that Ash needed help, and… well, one thing led to another, and I realised something I should have remembered earlier," Misty explained, unaware that she was smiling as she spoke. "Ash is bad at _showing_ that he cares… but I should never doubt _that_ he cares."

"And you doubt-?" Rudy began.

"Rudy," Misty held up a hand to cut him short. "How you both feel about me isn't the issue; how _I_ feel about both of you _is_. You noticed me when I dived in to save your sister, but Ash has seen me in… well, less flattering situations…"

"Hey," Ash said, stepping forward to give Misty a warm smile as she suddenly glanced awkwardly at the ground. "I know you can be a stubborn pain sometimes, Misty, but that's one of the things I… really like about you; you don't give up no matter what the odds are against you."

"That's one thing we've always had in common, anyway," Misty noted with a smile.

"When we know there's a fight worth winning that we think we have a chance to win, anyway," Ash returned her smile with one of his own, the words an indirect apology for his own past departure that . "It's like I said last week; you may not be supportive in a conventional way, but when I know you believe in me, I feel like I can do anything."

"…I see," Rudy said, his expression solemn as he looked between the two of them, as though contrasting Ash's attitude after their previous match compared to his manner now, before the older boy's gaze focused on Misty. "Did I ever have a chance?"

"I don't know," Misty replied, shifting uncomfortably on her feet. "Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed my time here, and you were… charming… but Ash and I… we have so much _history_ …"

"I get it," Rudy said, holding up a hand in a halting gesture as he smiled awkwardly. "Let's… not make this harder than it already is, OK?"

"Thanks," Misty smiled back, relieved that Rudy seemed to be taking this particular revelation fairly well. "I'll just… actually, I've got everything already…"

"Right," Rudy said, indicating the balloon. "I need to just… get the badge from the main gym, so we can…"

"Would it be easier if Misty and I just flew back on Charizard and met you there?" Ash asked, indicating where the orange dragon was still standing on the edge of the battlefield, letting out a brief snort as Ash acknowledged it while glaring at Rudy.

"Yeah, that sounds good," Rudy nodded, as he took Mahri's hand and headed back to the balloon.

"See you at the Gym, Tracey!" Ash called over to his other friend, who was still staring at him and Misty in obvious shock even as he kept hold of Togepi. With that said, Ash walked over to where his powerful Fire-type was now crouched on the ground, carefully getting onto Charizard's back before holding out a hand to Misty. "Coming?"

"Always," Misty replied, letting Ash haul her onto Charizard's back before the dragon beat its wings and hurtled into the air, Pikachu clutching onto Charizard's head as Misty wrapped her arms around Ash.

It was a small gesture, but as far as Misty was concerned, this short flight would mark the beginning of her and Ash's brand new life together, with all its exhilarating and unpredictable highs and lows… and she wouldn't have it any other way.

Just like she'd said after she'd kissed him, no matter what the future held, she would always choose Ash, just as she had faith that he would always choose her.

* * *

AN: For the record, I know that Ash's Tauros never used Tackle or Earthquake in the anime, but I checked Bulbapedia and Tauros _can_ learn these moves, so assume that Ash just preferred to focus on greater power when he used it in the show where his current strategy needed a less overwhelming show of force.

AN 2: In advance, I will state right now that this is as far as I intend to take this particular story at this time, although I like to think that Ash and Misty being in an actual _relationship_ would give Misty more incentive to find a way to stay with Ash when her sisters call her about their planned year-long vacation (Seriously, I hope the show brings Misty back at some point; looking at Ash's female travelling companions, the fact that Misty is the only one to date who left him out of necessity rather than choice should say it all about how much he meant to her)


End file.
